Hovnanian Swings to Profit; Shares Rise
RED BANK, N.J. (
) -- Shares of
Hovnanian
(HOV) - Get Report
, the homebuilder, rose 3.3% in after-hours trading Tuesday after posting a first-quarter profit because of a large tax gain.
Hovnanian said first-quarter earnings were $236.2 million, or $2.97 a share, a swing from a year-earlier loss of $178.4 million, or $2.29 a share. The latest quarter included a federal income tax benefit of $291.3 million.
Revenue in the quarter was $319.6 million, down from $373.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Hovnanian said deliveries in the first quarter were 1,091 homes, a 10% decrease from the year-earlier first quarter.
Hovnanian said home buying patterns for the first quarter were seasonally typical.
"Traffic and net contracts dropped off around the Thanksgiving holiday, and we began to see a pickup in traffic and net contracts during the last half of January and into February," the homebuilder said.
Hovnanian shares ended Tuesday at $3.97, but rose 13 cents to $4.10 in after-hours trading.
-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York.
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